Lost and Found
by rhythm-within
Summary: Bella is spending her Spring Break in La Push, trying to avoid hanging out with Emily. Leah is a nosy teenager who wants to know if Bella really is dating Jacob Black. Bella/Leah


The first time Leah ever saw Bella Swan was at a dinner at Billy's house with the whole clan gathered in the tiny living space; she had been on the phone with her best friend from school the entire time, picking at the food on her paper plate. Of course, she'd heard of Bella before—how could she not have with Charlie being Billy and her dad's best friend and Billy being the tacit leader of the entire tribe. Bella had sat outside, looking genuinely happy to be around Jacob, despite Leah having heard all the rumors about how Bella had let a boy bring her low. She heard about finding her on the ground in the woods from Sam, with how little she spoke to him now, and she knew snippets of Charlie's drama from her mom's conversations with Billy.

And that was it. She was too busy listening to Kylee telling her the plot to this show she'd just finished watching.

…

Leah was aware that Bella had spending a lot of time in La Push—you could hear the truck from a half mile down the road—and there were all kinds of whispers about Bella and Jake dating. The two of them looked some comfortable together and from everything Leah was able to discern about the pasty girl, comfort was not her usual state of being.

Leah was—by all accounts—a pretty regular teenage girl, trying to reconcile her heritage and her desires to explore the world outside of northwest Washington state. She was not above gossip or sidling up to Bella when she discovered her sitting alone—during what was Bella's spring break—on the cold beach wood on the shore of First Beach looking out to the island.

"So, you and Jake are dating?" Leah hovered over Bella, a hand on her hip and a knee pushed out like she wasn't going to leave until some information was handed over. She saw Bella wince, thoughts running through her head about the right way to respond to a near stranger.

She pushed some hair back behind her ear and laughed a little rigidly. "Ah, no. Jake's my best friend." She wasn't looking at Leah as she spoke but she looked up when Leah gave an amused humph back. "Don't you know the feeling? Someone that kind of just makes any kind of…_pain_ go away?"

_She must be lonely to open up like that_, Leah thought, looking down at her with real sympathy; she had not expected it to be that easy.

"Not in a long time," Leah sighed, sitting heavily on the driftwood next to Bella.

"That sounds like a story," Bella laughed like a silver bell and it was wonderful in Leah's ears.

"Nothing any other teenager hasn't been through." Leah took off her shoes and started drawing doodles with her feet.

"I'm gonna go with c) a major break up."

"You hit the nail on the head," Leah laughed bitterly, feeling embarrassment flare inside her as she thought about how much she still loved Sam, hating Emily for what she did to her.

"You and Sam, right?" Bella was watching Leah's feet, wincing when they stilled.

"Yeah. He just disappeared…and when he came back…he was hopelessly devoted to my cousin."

"Emily." Bella confirmed, obviously having met the scarred woman. "Those two…they hurt me. I can't imagine how you feel."

"Not good." Leah laughed but it didn't hurt her as much this time. She was feeling so comfortable around Bella pretty instantly.

"Why have we never talked?" Bella said, almost like she had read Leah's mind.

"That's a good question," Leah answered, "Aren't you a senior this year?"

"Yeah, I am. That's another thing that's so weird about people thinking I'm dating Jake. He's only a sophomore. We're so…different when it comes to experiences."

"The age thing isn't the only experience difference…" Leah trailed off, feeling self conscious for bringing up race.

"I know I'm not native and that means I can't ever truly understand you or Jake but I try." Bella shrugged, feeling guilty.

"Don't feel guilty, Bella," Leah bumped her shoulder with her own. "I was just saying. You are a good friend. I'm sorry he's been so absent lately."

"It's all right. It's understandable, really."

"Really? You come all the way down here and he just blows you off? That's okay with you?"

"He's…busy. He has priorities and he sees me when he can. But it does get lonely, yeah."

"We should hang out then." Leah smiled over at her and Bella looked genuinely happy for someone who probably didn't enjoy most social interactions with people.

"I think so! Say, I've been wanting to go cliff diving. I know the weather hasn't been all that permitting but what do you think?"

"I see the boys doing that all the time," Leah grimaced at the thought, "You really want to do that?"

Bella pushed some hair behind her ear again, "I guess you could say I'm a bit of a thrill seeker. Part of the reason I've been coming up here so frequently is because I had Jacob help me fix up a couple of motorcycles."

Leah's eyes went big. "Really? You think you could take me for a ride?" her smile got wide and eager. Bella laughed.

"Well, last time I went I fell off and cut open my forehead. Maybe I'd do better my second time around. So, does that mean you'll go cliff diving with me then?"

"Tomorrow, if the weather is more permitting, I'll go with you," Leah promised, looking out at the horizon, frowning at the impending storm rolling in. "You think we oughta head inside?" she changed the subject minorly.

"Are you inviting me to your house?" Bella smiled, already standing up.

"I might be," Leah smiled back up at her, brushing off her feet and slipping her shoes back on.

"I think that's a good idea," Bella conceded, looking down at her feet shyly. "Thanks."

"You like chicken salad? I make a mean chicken salad."

"I love chicken salad." And the two girls made their way back up the zigzag rocky trail towards Leah's house.

…

The next day was a Thursday and the weather wasn't looking or feeling any better than it ever did. Leah was in a modest one piece, not wanting to give off any wrong impression to Bella.

"Oh god," Bella covered her face when she met Leah outside of her house, her truck's engine alerting the Quileute girl to Bella's presence, "How did I let Renee talk me into even buying this thing?" She pulled at the strings on her hips of the bikini.

"Don't sweat it, Bells. This is the only one I have." Leah shrugged, repositioning the towel she had thrown over her shoulder. It was a lie but it was meant to make Bella feel better.

"Did you just call me Bells?" Bella looked up, suddenly less concerned about her revealing bathing suit.

"Do you need a towel too?" Leah bumped Bella's shoulder with her own, ignoring the question.

"Yeah, actually. Thanks." Bella smiled and went to put her hair back into a ponytail.

Leah grabbed another towel and they made their way down to the shore of First Beach, close to the usual cliff used for diving activities.

"Just so we're clear, we are _not_ jumping off the top ledge," Leah kicked off her shoes, laying her towel on a piece of drift wood to keep it from getting too sandy.

"Fair enough," Bella looked a bit disappointed but the water was looking brooding and choppy and it was really a matter of safety, "I don't think I was ready for the high jump anyway."

"Good," Leah smiled and motioned for Bella to follow her up a trail Bella'd never been up before. About half way up, there was a path that was clearly the more used one that led further up the cliff face to the high jump that Leah pointed out before shimming over a few rocks, her bare feet looking nimble and light, to the lower jump.

"You guys," Bella panted after Leah, having a much harder time getting to the lower path, "are a bunch of crazy people if the majority of you go all the way up!"

"I never do!" Leah confessed, finally getting to the wide ledge that was clearly the jumping point. "This may be a bad time to mention this, but I'm pretty well afraid of heights."

"No," Bella's eyes got wide and she grabbed on to Leah's arm, holding tight.

Leah swallowed and nodded. "But I can handle it. We're only half way up!" she laughed but the nerves were plainly obvious in the throbbing of her voice.

"We don't have to do this, you know?" Bella told her, looking very seriously into Leah's face.

Then, Leah smiled, pushing all the bravado she had to the surface. "What better time to conquer ones' fears that the present?" her smile was unwavering and Bella felt comforted.

"We can jump at the same time. How about that?" She slipped her hand down into Leah's hand, squeezing reassuringly.

"Okay," Leah squeezed back and they moved to the edge, their toes curling down over the jagged rocks.

"We have to jump out, just to be safe." Leah silently nodded at Bella's words, "Okay. On the count of three," Bella instructed, squeezing Leah's hand one more time and waiting for an approving nod, "One—two—three!" and the two girls leapt up into the air, feeling the cold breeze whip their hair around their faces and the rush of free falling. Bella heard Leah shrieking in her ear and then they splashed down.

The water was entirely too cold and Bella wound up swallowing sea water, infinitely embarrassed that her top had come completely off.

"Leah?" she called over to Leah who was treading water easily. 

"Yeah?" Leah called back.

"Have you seen my top?"

Instead of answering, Leah busted out into peels of laughter.

"Hey!" Bella scolded her, this is serious business!"

"Oh calm down! No one's out here anyway! Let's just get back to the towels and we can take hot showers at my place!" Leah explained, now talking directly in Bella's ear as she clung to her shoulder in order to speak to her.

Bella's face was red, partially from the ridiculously uncomfortable water and partially from her chagrin but she let Leah help her swim back to where they'd left their towels.

"That wasn't so bad!" Leah called, wrapping her towel around herself and bringing Bella's towel to her at the edge of the water so Bella didn't have to get out and expose herself, regardless.

"I should have worn a one piece," Bella laughed, sniffing as she brought her towel around her torso tight.

"Probably," Leah laughed and whipped her arm out fast to put it around Bella's shoulders and steer her towards the house.

…

"You can have the first shower," Leah told her, throwing another towel at Bella from the linen closet.

"Oh, don't be so modest," Bella laughed, "You've seen me topless now and I don't want to make you sit around all salty and cold while I shower."

"You sure?" Leah was suddenly incredibly nervous, looking anywhere but Bella's face and hoping for any excuse not to.

"Yeah, silly." Bella smiled at her and pulled her into the bathroom that was already fogging up from the hot water spilling out of the showerhead.

They both jumped into the stream in their bathing suits, Bella still topless and making sounds of pleasure at the warmth.

"I think I might wait 'til summer to go cliff diving again," Bella said offhandedly, reaching for Leah's lavender scented shampoo.

"I'd have to agree with you," Leah laughed and took the shampoo from Bella's hands, nearly dropping it with her nerves making her hands shake.

…

"You certainly have been spending a lot of time with Leah," Jacob said when he finally came back from patrol with the back, spread out on his bed next to Bella, who was half asleep. She was cozy and sleepy from the warm shower she had taken at Leah's house.

"Yeah," Bella admitted, her voice had that thick haze to it like she was just minutes from snoozing. "I like her."

"Good," Jacob smiled and Bella could hear it in his voice, even with her eyes closed.

"Really? You're not mad or anything?" Bella asked, suddenly more awake and eyes craning up and over to look at Jacob's face.

"Yeah, totally. I mean, if you're gonna be spending all this time here anyway, right? Plus, I bet it's better than hanging out with Emily."

Bella laughed. "Careful where you say that, you don't want Sam hearing you."

Jacob laughed back, a hearty rumble in his chest, "You know what I mean. I know it can be kind of…painful to be around her, especially when Sam's around. Believe me."

Bella felt her stomach tighten with an intense guilt she wished she didn't feel. Of course she felt bad for Jacob, but this time, the thought of Edward growling angrily at her for her reckless behavior didn't even cross her mind. She was thinking about Leah. Leah's smile and her nervous laugh and lavender shampoo and suddenly Bella was comfortable again, hunkering down in the bed next to Jacob. He was so warm and the rain was beating steadily on the roof of the Black's small house like it did on most days in Washington.

…

"Do you mind if Leah and I take the motorcycles out for a spin today?" Bella asked Jacob on the Friday morning at the end of her spring break.

"Bella, you cut open your forehead last time," he ran his thumb over the healing scab where the gash had been, "And I _know_ for a fact that Leah's never ridden one before. Do you really expect me to let the both of you wind up in the hospital, or worse—"

Bella interrupted him with a small murmur of "expelled."

"What was that?" Jacob raised a curious eyebrow at her.

"Nothing," Bella chuckled to herself, knowing Leah would have got a laugh out of her joke, given how much of a fan she was of the series with all the movie posters on her walls and several different copies of the books on her bookshelves—"the hard backs are collector's items, I never read them!" Bella could hear Leah crying out when Bella called her out on the amount of copies she really had.

"So, maybe don't take the bikes? Especially with Victoria still out there. You can't take them on the roads and I don't _really_ want you out in the woods, even if Leah _is_ there with you."

"Oh come on, Jake. Don't be such a spoil-sport."

"I can't tell you what to do," Jake kissed the top of her head, hugging her close into his side, "but if you do go, please wear some helmets and be safe."

"I guess I'll need to go get some helmets, then," Bella's face split open with a broad smile.

Jacob shook his head, "I guess so." And then he was off, joining Sam and the gang who had been standing off in the forest line in the distance.

…

"Jake said we could ride the bikes," Bella's smile was wide when Leah answered her door, looking like she'd only rolled out of bed to answer the door.

"Are you sure about that?" Leah asked, pushing the door open for Bella to follow her into the house and back to Leah's bedroom so she could change into some normal clothes. "He didn't just say to be careful if we do use them?"

"I think you know Jacob a little too well," Bella laughed, leaning against the door frame as Leah started pull clothes off hangers and putting them on her body. Bella found it pleasing the way Leah rolled the camisole down over her brown stomach.

"Not anymore than you do. I hardly see him anymore." Leah admitted, sliding some skinny jeans over her soft pink underwear. Almost as an afterthought, Leah threw on an unbuttoned and long-sleeved shirt, knowing it would be cold.

"We need to get some helmets first." Bella spoke up as she trailed behind Leah out the front door.

"Wait," Leah stopped, spinning on Bella, "Are you telling me the first time you and Jacob went out on those metal death traps that you weren't even wearing helmets?"

Bella laughed nervously, a hand reaching up absently to touch the scab from her first try on the motorcycles and felt the ghost of Jacob's thumb there. It made her suddenly uncomfortable.

"And danger prone Daphne," Bella pointed to herself, trying to laugh it off, "fell off and cut my head open."

"Holy shit, Bella. Are you serious?" Leah looked like she was about to start yelling but she took a few breaths and let it slide.

"Yeah, it wasn't anything serious, though. I promise."

"Well, do you want to head up to Port Angeles, maybe skip the hassle of explain why we're trying to buy helmets?"

A look of relief washed over Bella.

"We can grab some lunch while we're up there." Leah added. Bella brightened at that.

"I'll drive."

"Well," Leah made a sarcastic face, "I don't have a car so, yes you will."

Bella elbowed Leah in the side and they laughed as they climbed into the cab of Bella's old Chevy.

…

Leah followed Bella around the Target in Port Angeles, watching her get temporarily distracted in a the small section and the children's clothing aisle. Leah smiled and they finally made their way to the back where the bicycle helmets were.

"Do you think these will be okay? The motorcycles are small and honestly I don't think they're really that dangerous." Bella looked skeptical, biting on her bottom lip.

"I think they'll be fine. Better than no protection at all."

Bella brightened after that and wound up suggesting a fancier Italian restaurant a few blocks from the Target. It wasn't on the water but it still had a nice atmosphere, quiet and empty since it was still closer to eleven than noon.

They wound up chatting about school and growing up, Leah actually talking about her experiences on the reservation and how it was really hard to leave even if you wanted to. It was something Jacob never brought up because he liked to keep things light, often joking around more than talking, trying to keep Bella's mind off Edward. But there was an open camaraderie Bella felt with Leah, a courage to think about growing up in Arizona and realize it wasn't all boring and dry sunshine, and she didn't have to consciously try to patch over the bloody gash she felt in her chest. It just…it wasn't _there_ anymore. It was replaced by a different kind of feeling, a guilt that extended to Jacob; she felt sorry he was never able to get rid of that hole, that Jacob wanted the same thing from her that she had wanted from Edward. Leah just…didn't seem to have expectations and that was a beautiful thing.

They took a slightly different route into the reservation so they could park outside the Clearwater's house to avoid getting Billy's attention as they snuck the bikes out of Jacob's shed.

"These are pretty heavy, Bells," Leah looked concerned, Bella's nickname falling out of her mouth easily, "Maybe we ought to just take one."

"You think we can both fit on there at the same time?" Bella tried to bounce it a little, trying to see how much pressure it could stand.

"I don't see why not. And that way you can drive and I can attempt to _not die_." Leah laughed, sounding a little nervous herself.

"I've only ridden this thing once," Bella admitted, "But I think I have a bit more of a handle on it now." She steeled herself, heaving out a heavy breath and started pushing the bike, "We can do this."

"Hell yeah!" Leah did a little skip after Bella, feeling giddy at the prospect of riding a real motorcycle.

They were lucky enough not to really run into anyone as the snuck the bike into the bed of Bella's truck and whizzed off, with the windows down and blowing their hair all in their faces, to the same spot Jacob had taken Bella in the first place.

"This the spot?" Leah asked, hopping out of the truck.

"Yup," Bella lowered the tailgate and they hauled the red bike out of the back, propping it up on its kickstand before putting their helmets on and mounting it. It took a few cranks, Leah placing her hand on top of Bella's for extra torque.

Leah was not shy about wrapping her arms around Bella's waist, screaming as they lurched awkwardly forward when Bella lifted her foot off the clutch, her heat extraordinary especially for the chilly afternoon climate. The seating was awkward since the bike really was only made for one person but Leah was a fast learner, realizing that she needed to tip her core with Bella as the made bends along the trail and Bella kept it in third gear or lower.

The helmets were keeping their hair from whipping into their faces and Bella could hear Leah laughing excitedly just a little bit over the turning of the engine. She was surprised at how much fun she was having for the moderately low danger factor with the lower speed. That was, until a flame burst in front of the vehicle, several yards ahead, just far enough for Bella to react by swerving and tipping it right over, the metal skidding along the trail and trapping their legs underneath the motorcycle. They slid underneath it, a tree stopping their forward momentum, leaving Bella to try with all her might to shove the machine off of her left leg, an awkward hobbling and scrabbling at leaves and shrubbery around her. There was a snarl from up ahead and the flame started walking toward them, the snarl gradually moving into a vicious laugh.

Bella's immediate instinct was to put her body between Leah's and the vampire coming towards them but Leah was nowhere in her sight. Without a single concerned for her obviously injured left leg, Bella spun wildly, finally completely free from the dense bike. Her mind screaming _please don't be dead, please don't be dead_, imaging Leah had flown headfirst into a tree, breaking her neck and Bella would find her body mangled on the forest floor. Her hobbling half-search was interrupted by an answering snarl towards the vampire and Bella's mind flashed with relief, thinking the pack had found her. Perhaps they had been watching her and Leah. But it didn't matter; the pack was there and her priority was finding Leah. She limped, feeling blood trickling down her leg, toward the tree line with the thought that Leah could have flown downhill when the bike tipped.

Too close for comfort, Victoria screamed at the small gray wolf that was confronting her and Bella turned to watch it launch itself right at the red-haired vampire who did nothing more than backhand the wolf into a tree. Bella winced at the sound of the yelp that came from the small wolf that Bella had never seen before.

"It can't be," Bella whispered and she saw the wolf's head snap towards her, it's eyes focused right on her face, a sad look coming over it. It was definitely one of the pack but Bella knew in that instant, Leah had changed into a wolf. To _protect_ her. Her stomach dropped and she wanted to go towards her, pet her head and tell her how sorry she is.

Bella was feeling hopeless, wishing she could call Jacob and knowing she couldn't if he was in his wolf form—which he had to be since he was still on patrol. Her mind kept yelling at her, _you didn't need to go on this trip without Jacob, it wasn't worth it, you could have prevented this! _Her leg was bleeding through her pants and she was starting to feel a little faint as she hobbled towards Leah who was leaping at Victoria again, this time aiming for her ankles.

"Runt!" she heard Victoria scream before a rush of wind caused Bella to blink and then the vampire was there in front of her, her red eyes gleaming with bloodlust and her breath smelling exactly like the metallic smell wafting up from Bella's quivering leg.

"I couldn't resist someone who smells as good as you," Victoria hissed into her ear, inhaling deeply the smell of blood.

Bella shivered, unable to repress her fear, knowing she and Leah were going to die out there in the middle of the woods before the pack could even find either of them and more and more Quileute kids were going to keep shifting if Victoria or any other vampires were able to keep roaming around in their territory.

"Fuck," Bella let out under her breath, closing her eyes and—surprisingly—picturing Leah's face twisting into a sad, human expression that Bella had never actually seen on the girl's face.

Suddenly, there was a chorus of growling and heavy breathing surrounding them, forming a huge circle around trail. There was Sam in his wolf form directly behind Victoria. She smelled him, her nostrils flaring, and spun towards him with a laugh on her lips like she had the upper hand. Bella took her fractional distraction to crane her neck around and look for Jacob, finding his reddish wolf directly behind her, moving forward like he meant to comfort her more than fight the vampire. It looked like the pack had it covered as far as brute strength was concerned; all their patrolling had only been meant to corner Victoria anyway.

The pack was closing in, forming a tighter and tighter circle, Leah hanging back, watching Bella instead. She couldn't stand to keep eye contact with her, turning to Jacob behind her. He was no longer in wolf form.

"Jacob," Bella murmured, stumbling and falling into his embrace.

"We have to get you out of here and into a hospital." He said, instead, his voice tight and his eyes trained on her limp leg. His nostrils flared too, obviously smelling the amount of blood she'd already lost; her pants legs were dripping now.

"It's just a flesh wound," Bella half smiled, trying to play it off. Jacob didn't bother replying, just raised a stiff eyebrow at her. "Fine." She conceded. "Are you driving?"

"Yeah," Jacob said, walking over to Bella's truck. "Keys?" He held a hand out and she dug in her left pocket where she kept them, peeling them out of her bloody pants pocket. "Gross."

Bella shrugged and watched as he pulled on the spare set of clothing she kept in her car for him after finding out about his lycanthropy.

The car ride was silent as Jacob drove, which suited Bella just fine, but she kept picturing that same sad expression on Leah's face that she'd never seen before; it was her fault and she knew that Leah knew it, probably wouldn't forgive her for it. Girls weren't supposed to shift.

…

It didn't take Charlie long to find Bella at the hospital in a gown, still waiting with her leg propped up in front of her; they'd had to cut her pants off, peeling them off her as gently as possible, though they still pulled at some of the scabs that were trying to use the denim to clot up the wounds. Jacob had called Charlie with one of the phones at the nurses' station and then gone back to La Push by foot, leaving Bella's truck in the parking garage at the hospital with his extra clothes folded and placed back into the back seat.

"What the hell, Bella?" her father's eyes were burning and Bella could have sworn she saw hellfire there.

"Motorcycle accident?" Bella scrunched up her face and her inflection went up at the end of the sentence as she prepared for the inevitable screaming that would ensue. And, boy, did it. A nurse had to come over and ask him to either calm down or leave. To which he replied by yelling about why his baby was still in the waiting room if she had a broken leg. He was ejected from the hospital then.

The leg wasn't broken, just cut up and bruised and sore. The cuts went all the way from her hip to her knee and she'd twisted her ankle on top of pulling a few muscles, but at the end of the day the best the doctor could do was clean and bandage her up, sending her off with a prescription for some mild pain killers.

It was dark by the time Bella drove herself home and she found Charlie sitting in the living room with an empty TV dinner next to him.

"Bella," he called, his voice much gentler than it had been at the hospital, "I'm sorry I yelled at you, Bells."

"It's okay," Bella told him, obviously moving towards the house phone, "I deserved it. I should have just told you I'd gotten the bikes."

"Yeah," Charlie sighed out, "Go call Jacob if you're gonna."

Bella smiled at that and dialed the number she'd had memorized for months.

Billy answered the phone, telling her that Jacob was on his way to her house now.

"Really?" Bella was taken aback at how cooperative Billy was with her. He confirmed and hung up brusquely, not even bothering to said goodbye.

"Dad," Bella called to Charlie who was still sitting in the living room, "Jacob's coming over. Billy just told me. I think he wants to talk."

"Well," Charlie sighed, "I guess that's fine. Just don't…_go_ anywhere, okay?"

"Roger that." She went up to her room to wait for Jacob to show up outside her window, barefoot and bare-chested. Instead, he showed up in his Rabbit and rang the doorbell for Charlie to answer it.

"Bella!" Her father called up and Bella found herself flustered to have to put shoes back on and rush down the stairs as fast as she could with the bandages preventing her from really bending her knee.

"Coming!" she hollered back and pounded down to the front door.

Jacob looked rather somber standing there in the threshold, dark clothes and jeans on.

"Hey Jake," Bella greeted.

"Hey Bells," his voice was soft, "come on," he gestured out the door towards his car with his keys still in his hand, "I'll have her back in no time, Mr. Swan."

Charlie barked out a laugh. "Mr. Swan." He said out loud to himself, "Please. Jacob, call me that one more time and you're getting banned from the Swan residence permanently. Jacob smiled and followed Bella out the door to the car where his windows were down.

"Hop in," Jacob instructed as Bella looked down at it.

"Where are we going?" she grilled before giving corporeal consent to any road trip.

"Nowhere. We're just sitting. It's a good place to sit."

"Oh," Bella nodded and got into the passenger seat, glad that Jacob respected her enough to know she didn't want any help folding her leg in the seat. "What do we need to talk about?"

"Leah," Jacob deadpanned, slamming the driver's side door. Bella winced as her eardrum warbled at the loud sound.

"Oh," she said again, unable to look up at Jacob in that moment. She had a pretty good guess what he wanted to talk about.

"Leah was going to change anyway," Jacob started off, "But it was so weird since we were all in wolf form when it happened. It was like she just…_exploded_ into our minds and suddenly we all could hear her thinking about you and launching herself at Victoria."

"That is weird," Bella conceded, trying to imagine having voices in her head; she heard Leah say 'hi' in the back of her mind and she almost thought it was real, like Edward's voice used to be.

There was a weighty silence for a while. Jacob had something else to add but he was having a hard time pushing it out into the space between them in the car's small cabin.

"She imprinted," he spit out, finally.

"Oh?" Bella couldn't help the stab of disappointment she felt at that, thinking she wouldn't get to see Leah much anymore if she was going to be romantically involved with another member of the pack.

"On you." He didn't look up at her.

The words stopped Bella dead in her tracks, her heart feeling like it skipped at beat.

"Oh." Her voice was barely audible.

"Yeah…" Jacob scratched the back of his head and Bella found herself wanting to run a hand over the soft buzzed hair there but she couldn't move at all. "I really have no claim on you at all." He laughed wryly and Bella felt a bit of a sting at the corners of her eyes and tears tried to form there.

"Jacob," her voice was light, trying to be reassuring, "You're still my _best friend_. I wouldn't change that for anything." She reached over and placed a small hand on his right forearm. He covered it with his enormous left hand, warm and reassuring, in a silent thanks.

There was more silence and the crickets were singing in the darkened forest.

"Do you think you love her, too?" Jacob finally spoke up, his voice hoarse.

"I don't know. I just met her. I like her though. I like her a lot." Bella smiled fondly, feeling the same warmth she felt when Leah was around brush at the back of her mind. "Do you think she's going to be weird about this?" Bella snickered a little, thinking of Leah acting all skittish, like a deer.

"Oh!" Jacob perked up at that, "Most _definitely!_"

"Great! Just what I needed! Another awkward teenager in the mix!"

Jacob smirked at her. "I missed you, Bells."

"I haven't gone anywhere, dude. No need to get all sentimental."

"Oh, shut up and just let me get a little sentimental."

"Ugh, fine." She elbowed him and he grabbed her around the neck for a noogie.

"I'm glad we could talk about this," Jacob said seriously, releasing her so she could straighten her hair back out.

"Me too," she admitted, hoping it would keep things from getting too weird between the two of them.

"Good night," he bore down on her again, this time to hug her around the shoulders like a bear.

"Good night, you dork." She poked him in the ribs until he released her.

"You dirty cheat!" he called out to her as she awkwardly climbed out of the car, careful of her leg.

"Later, loser!" She called over her shoulder and hobbled back into the house to get some much needed rest with her painkillers in her system.

…

Charlie didn't let Bella out of the house that Saturday, citing that she shouldn't be driving on painkillers and telling her it was best she rest up before school started on Monday. Bella agreed, grabbing a worn book off her shelf and settling in with her widows open to rereading it.

She managed to get all the way to Sunday afternoon before she started to go stir crazy. She hadn't even heard from Jacob at all and the need to get out to the coast was burning through her veins.

"Dad," Bella said, standing between him and the game on TV, "I _have_ to go to La Push."

Charlie's forehead scrunched up in concern and he turned the TV off. "What's wrong, Bells?"

She breathed out a laugh, "Just feeling a little stir crazy."

"Oh." Charlie visibly relaxed back into the couch. "How's the leg?"

"It's good. A little stiff. I could use a little exercise."

"Try not to pop open all the scrapes?"

"Yeah, ew. I'll try not to."

"Good, good." He lifted his arms out towards Bella, tacitly asking her for a hug. Her and Charlie had had very little contact since she'd moved in but she felt a sense of comfort as she leaned into his embrace. That was her father and loved her, was glad she was alive and with him.

"Love you, Dad," she said, pulling away from him.

"Be good, Bella."

"I will," she called, grabbing her keys as she went out the door.

Her first instinct was to visit Jacob, get a bit of a pep talk before trying to confront Leah but she'd already talked to Jacob about the whole thing. What more could he really say? He needed time to lick his wounds, anyway. Bella sighed, easing the knot twisting in her stomach just a little, hoping to go Jacob didn't get bitter over the whole thing; it was no one's fault.

She pulled up in front of the Clearwater house, knowing that if Leah was inside she would know Bella was there. As she walked to the front door and knocked for the first time since meeting Leah, she kept taking deep breaths to try and ease the terrible feeling in her gut.

It took a few minutes but the door finally swung open and there was Leah, looking tired and wrecked and a little worse for wear, but her eyes crinkled happily at the sight of Bella on her front porch. "Bella." She breathed out and threw herself forward, into Bella's chest. Without a second thought, Bella brought her arms up and around Leah's waist, sinking into the comforting feeling.

"Can we talk?" Bella whispered, squeezing soothingly.

"Yes," Leah pulled back, righting herself and sniffing like she was putting her façade back into place.

Bella just rolled her eyes and grabbed Leah's hand, pulling her towards the beach.

"How's your leg?"

"Not broken," Bella admitted, hobbling along just a little, glad she had less bandages on and was able to move her knee, "It was feeling stiff so I was thinking we could go on a little walk down on the beach."

"Sounds good," Bella squeezed Leah's hand and they climbed down onto the cold sand, toeing off their shoes and socks and rolling up their pants legs.

They were silent for a while, arms swinging between the two of them, enjoying the cold sun and the wind blowing their hair back. With her other hand, Bella reached up and touched Leah's newly shorn hair.

"You cut your hair, too," she pointed out, feeling a little disappointed.

"Yeah," Leah sighed, "keeps our fur from getting unmanageable. I'm gonna miss the long hair though."

"For the record, it _is_ cute." Bella admitted, bumping her shoulder into Leah's.

"Thanks," Leah laughed and ran her free hand through her dark hair.

"How are you holding up? You know it took Jacob like _over_ a week to finally get better."

Leah looked astonished, blinking up at Bella. "Really?" she nearly busted out laughing, "I'm perfectly fine. The weirdest thing is their voices in my head. I didn't really notice it when I first shifted…" Leah stalled out and Bella could tell the awkward part was coming up.

"Because you were too busy thinking about me?" Bella supplied, unable to believe her own mouth had betrayed her so egregiously. Leah just nodded, looking out at the choppy waves instead of at Bella.

"It's okay, you know?" Bella told her, "It's not your fault. The wolf thing, I'm just sorry it happened to you."

"It's not your fault either," Leah looked up at her then, knowing exactly what Bella meant.

"I mean, it sort of is. The Cullens," Bella said and she felt an explosion of relief when the name didn't rip into her, "they were here and it attracted Victoria and them. And that whole thing…Victoria was after me. So, it was sort of my fault."

"Wow," Leah deadpanned, "I don't even know where to begin with that." She stopped walking.

"How about here?" Bella said, leaning herself up into Leah's personal space, giving her the option to kiss Bella if she wanted to. Leah leaned down too, dropping Bella's hand in favor of reaching up to cup Bella's face.

"Sounds good to me," she took the opportunity and kissed her.


End file.
